The biodiversity nexus: transport

On foot, across oceans, on paths, roads, and rails or through the air, people and goods are moving about constantly and nearly everywhere. Even in the world of remote working and online shopping the need for transport has not disappeared; to get food on our tables, someone still needs to make the trip to the field, the warehouse, and to the store.

Transport’s dual nature

While transport is necessary for the functioning of human societies, it also affects our environment in many ways. Most modes of transport rely on infrastructure networks that take up space, use massive amounts of materials and create impermeable surfaces that interfere with water infiltration. Motorized traffic on the other hand creates emissions and noise and causes collisions threatening biodiversity and human health. Transport is often also connected to the dispersal of alien species; small seeds and spores can hitchhike on shoe soles, and ships carry aquatic life across the globe in their ballast water tanks, affecting ecosystems in their destinations.

However, transport is not always only bad for us and the systems we rely on. For example, walking and cycling can keep us healthy through physical exercise, and moving in green environments can bring further benefits through restoration and stress relief. Transport infrastructures can also provide secondary habitats for species in need. For example, stormwater features and road verges can substitute natural ponds and meadows to some extent, and function as green connections and steppingstones between the remaining fragments of natural habitats. Despite these positive sides, the need to mitigate transport's adverse effects remains a pressing concern.

Navigating toward solutions

New innovations have already offered solutions to some of the issues. For example,  electric vehicles decrease the use of fossil fuels which reduces environmental strains.  However, often the most effective solution would be the reduction of unnecessary travel and refrain from constructing new transport infrastructures.